page_title: Mabvuku
section_title: Effects of economic decline
hierarchical_section_title: Mabvuku / Economy and social fabric / Effects of economic decline
caption_attribution_description: English: Bus at Mabvuku rail over bridge This is an image with the theme "Africa on the Move or Transport" from: Zimbabwe
context_page_description: Mabvuku is a high density suburb some 17 km east of Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe.
  It is classified as a suburb or township of Harare, with Harare City Council constituting local government.
  It encompasses in particular the townships that include Old Mabvuku and New Mabvuku, and more generally Old Tafara, and New Tafara. Chizhanje is a former dormitory suburb of hostels very close to Old Mabvuku that is nominally part of Mabvuku.
  Old Mabvuku dates back to the 1950s, with the oldest school in the suburb, Donnybrook Primary School dating back to 1954.
  New Mabvuku was built starting 1972 by the then Salisbury city council. Lately there have been expansions north and east via efforts by would be house owners through membership of housing cooperatives and voluntary contributions.
context_section_description: The Mabvuku-Tafara towns have been seriously affected by the decline of the economy which have compromised the Harare City Council's ability to provide services to this outlying towns. The residents have suffered through water and power cuts, acknowledged to be the worst scenario in the all of Harare. Cases of cholera, blamed on the relentless water cuts, he been recorded across the Mabvuku-Tafara area.
  In recent years the way of life and communalism has rapidly deteriorated in all over Mabvuku and Tafara areas. This is mainly due to poor maintenance of infrastructure by the city councils, as well as misuse of funds by government representatives. Basic services such as water supply, roads, community centres, sanitation and transport are rapidly going down if not non-existent any more. The main purpose for these townships was to provide low-cost housing for general manpower employed in the Greendale, Masasa, Highlands and Portland suburbs and industries but, the rapid collapse in industries from the early nineties has seen a lot of people losing their jobs and getting redundant resulting in poor or no household incomes. The result has been a lot of home-grown small businesses ranging from vegetable stalls, small barber shops, hair salons and even home-made furniture from those who used to work in furniture factories. One common aspect about this economic survival is that none of it is surveyed and planned by the local councils. As a result, in recent years, these stalls and shops have been demolished by government agencies. Crime rate has been soaring every year and disease and pandemics often break out. HIV awareness and preventive measures are getting scarce due to the exit of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) who promoted and financed these programmes in various communities, hospitals and clinics. Overall, like in most parts of Zimbabwe, life in Mabvuku has declined rapidly in the previous two decades.
caption: Bus transport
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